


A Holiday Hunt: A Witcher Story

by hjkathman



Category: Wiedźmin | The Witcher (Video Game), Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types, Wiedźmin | The Witcher Series - Andrzej Sapkowski
Genre: Before Blood and Wine, Christmas, Don't be Gross, Father-Daughter Relationship, Holidays, Mention of dead children, No Incest, Not an endorsement of CDPR, Spoilers, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, monster hunting, primarily from the Video Game Canon, trans rights baybee
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-21
Updated: 2019-12-21
Packaged: 2021-02-18 05:35:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 857
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21889120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hjkathman/pseuds/hjkathman
Summary: ***SPOILERS FOR THE BEST END OF THE WITCHER 3: HUNT***The Following short work is inspired by the Artwork of Niki Vaszi https://i.redd.it/fip0n4pcrq5y.jpgSupport their work at https://www.artstation.com/nikivasziOriginally written on December 25th, 2016The winter months are often a harsh time for the northern residence of Redania, though many villages and towns will find solace in these cold times by celebrating the winter solstice. Though in the past number of weeks, these calls for celebration have been undercut when a number of children began to go missing, only to appear nearly devoured weeks later. In response to these attacks, the town put a large bounty on whoever (or whatever) was causing these killings. Luckily, their calls were soon met when two witchers passed through the area...
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10





	A Holiday Hunt: A Witcher Story

" _God I hate the cold,_ " Geralt gruffly muttered to himself as he entered the cave.

"Oh Please," Ciri sardonically replied, following her fellow Witcher closely, "After you have single-handedly destroyed an ethereal blizzard, you can complain to me about the cold."

" _Don't forget, I had seen my fair share of the White Frost searching for you_ ,"

"We'll have time to reminisce after we have finished this contract."

" _It shouldn't be long now, that trail of child's blood led straight here, hopefully, it hasn't left recently._ "

"I still don't know what this thing could be, those tracks we found earlier were too big to be a Chort, there are hardly enough trees for it to be a Leshen. Could it be a Fiend?"

" _Doubt it, Fiends tend to go out of their way to avoid people, this thing seems to be focusing a lot of time and energy on that village._ "

"Bet you a pint that we got an Ekimmara on our hand." Ciri playfully boasted to Geralt.

" _Oh?_ "

"The killings have been too specific for some Relict. For some reason, this thing seems to specifically feed on young children."

" _You may have a point..._ " Geralt pondered to himself, " _Got to say, I've seen my fair share of dead children in these contracts, but never so exclusively and to such a degree..._ "

The old Witcher couldn't help but think about the many former parents who approached them for this contract. The pain they must have felt. To lose a child during a time of year often associated with innocence and joy, he felt uneasy with the thought of once again losing Ciri. He spent so much time trying to find her. the prospect of losing her again would be too much to bear.

"So, you in?" Ciri snapped Geralt out of his somber contemplation, Geralt grinned at the sight of his young ward, " _If we're going the Vampire route, a bottle of Vodka says that we've got a Katakan on our hands, based off of the long beard hair we found on the bodies. Ekimaras are often too young to have beards that long._ "

"Oh, raising the stakes, Geralt?"

" _What can I say? It's such a festive season after all._ "

Suddenly the two stopped at the cliff near the edge of a tunnel. The two could sense movement in the passages ahead. Anticipating the coming fight, the two instinctually drew their swords of pure silver, both inscribed with the runes of Dazhbog and Igni, in anticipation of the cold environment. As the two silently made their way down the cavern, the air began to grow colder (much to Geralt's annoyance) and the scent of coal and schnapps began to fill the air. Soon the cavern opened itself to a wide chamber, where Geralt and Ciri would carefully look to see if who would win their modest wager. Though when they looked, both were shocked to see how wrong they both were.

The creature slowly made its way out of another tunnel leading into the chamber. It stood nearly five meters tall, its long, bloodied beard almost to its waist, dressed in a tattered cloak completely stained red with the remains of its last victims, and proudly displaying a pair of curled horns above its solid eyes.

It lumbered across the room, carrying a large sack and a long chain with what appeared to be some sort of bell at the end. Slowly, he began to indifferently toss out large rocks of coal and more bodies of dead children on to a shared pile.

"Good God, Geralt? What the fuck is that thing? I've never seen anything like that."

" _Well, I can't be sure... But it does remind me of a story Vezimir once told me of a monster that would devour misbehaving children or give them coal. The only way they could be saved is if the creature is given Schnapps in exchange for the children's lives._ "

"Vezimir?" the sound of both Ciri and Geralt's mentor's name resonated with her, "Why on earth did he tell you a story like that?"

" _Funnily enough, he told me that I should have used that story in order to scare you away from misbehaving to better focus your training._ "

Ciri chuckled to herself, "Hah, a lot of good that did"

" _Personally, I always suspected that he was just taking advantage of some old peasant's myth to extort schnapps from us._ "

"He always did enjoy a nice fruity liqueur. Though that does give me an idea."

" _I'm all ears_."

Ciri Pointed out the large piles of coal and a large shelve of various bottles of varying odors near where the monster was sitting.

"If we were to set fire to the coal and the schnapps, it should set that beast ablaze no problem. That should provide an opening for an attack."

" _Not a bad plan, though one last thing._ "

"What is that?"

" _Whatever alcohol doesn't get burned down goes to the first person to kill this monstrosity._ "

"You're On!"

The two, joyed at the prospect of free alcohol, viciously emerged from their hiding space, throwing a pair of bombs towards the beast...


End file.
